Mehtas lose baby, delivered stillborn

The 27-week-old baby of Bhayander couple Haresh and Niketa Mehta was delivered stillborn on Tuesday at Kandivli's Ankur Hospital, the couple confirmed on Thursday.

This was just a day after Haresh vehemently denied rumours that his wife had had a miscarriage.

Haresh said the child was a boy.

Niketa had developed abdominal pain in the wee hours of Tuesday morning when she was at her parents' Kandivli residence. "At around 2.30 am, she called me and said the pain was severe," said Haresh.

Niketa's parents admitted her to Ankur Hospital at around 8 am.

"The doctor said the baby's heartbeat could not be heard. We were extremely upset. At around 8.53 pm, she delivered a stillborn boy. I performed the last rites along with a couple of relatives at the civic crematorium in Dahanukarwadi in the night," said Haresh over the telephone.

Haresh and Niketa shot into limelight after they moved the Bombay High Court along with their gynaecologist Dr Nikhil Datar on July 25, seeking permission to abort the then 25-week foetus as it had been diagnosed with cardiac blockage. The court had, however, rejected the petition on August 4 and asked them to go ahead with the child.

Gynaecologist Dr Saurabh Dani of Ankur Hospital who delivered the baby said: "I can't talk about any patient. Generally when a 27-week pregnant woman is in pain, we ascertain if it's true labour or false labour. If it's true labour, we allow the delivery to happen naturally. In case of high-risk deliveries, our priority is to save the mother and not the child."

When asked to clarify a high-risk case he said, "If a woman has high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes or infection. Niketa had high blood pressure and obesity."

Meanwhile, Dr Datar was upset that he was not informed of the miscarriage.

"I came to know from newspapers. They could have at least informed me, if not sought my medical expertise. I was intimately involved in the case." "But I think the couple may not be in a correct state of mind, with excess media attention and high stress," he added.